Cluster Map

January 06, 2010

The Legacy of Teaching "Self Esteem" in Our Schools

Pete, the whining is a bit much to take, isn’t it? But it is not uncommon and seems to be a sort of rhetorical tic employed by many Democratic presidents. They seem to think we should be impressed because they work hard or think deeply about the things they are elected to handle. Remember Bill Clinton reminding us about how hard he worked and about all the late-night meetings? Obama and his spinners also liked to regale us with tales about his endless, soul-searching Afghanistan seminars. They imagine the public is going to give them credit simply for working at a job they were elected to perform.

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So why do these Democratic presidents do it? It is the triumph they imagine of intentions over results. And it is a huge act of ego — the hubris of believing that they should be applauded for being so diligent rather than be judged on the results they achieve.

Every grade school child now gets graded on effort rather than results. Who cares if you think 2+2=5? That just means you have an alternative way of thinking! (A non "dead white male" way of thinking presumably.) As long as you try really, really hard, your results are just as valid and important as anyone else's and don't you let those evil Republicans say otherwise.

Here we have the legacy of the "Self Esteem" movement that has swept through Academia: It is bad enough that we are being led by a collection of overmatched, overeducated, under-experienced collection of empty suits; now we should also be expected to give them credit for how hard they are trying.

Comments

Pete, the whining is a bit much to take, isn’t it? But it is not uncommon and seems to be a sort of rhetorical tic employed by many Democratic presidents. They seem to think we should be impressed because they work hard or think deeply about the things they are elected to handle. Remember Bill Clinton reminding us about how hard he worked and about all the late-night meetings? Obama and his spinners also liked to regale us with tales about his endless, soul-searching Afghanistan seminars. They imagine the public is going to give them credit simply for working at a job they were elected to perform.

...

So why do these Democratic presidents do it? It is the triumph they imagine of intentions over results. And it is a huge act of ego — the hubris of believing that they should be applauded for being so diligent rather than be judged on the results they achieve.

Every grade school child now gets graded on effort rather than results. Who cares if you think 2+2=5? That just means you have an alternative way of thinking! (A non "dead white male" way of thinking presumably.) As long as you try really, really hard, your results are just as valid and important as anyone else's and don't you let those evil Republicans say otherwise.

Here we have the legacy of the "Self Esteem" movement that has swept through Academia: It is bad enough that we are being led by a collection of overmatched, overeducated, under-experienced collection of empty suits; now we should also be expected to give them credit for how hard they are trying.